Web looping device for festoon type driers



Dec. 12, 1950 am ll I L J I m I m \4 x r F E HURXTHAL was 1.00pm: nsvxcz FOR ms'roon 'ms mamas Patented Dec, 12,. 1950 WEB LOOPING DEVICE FOR FESTOON TYPE DRIERS Frederick E. Hurxthal, Glen'side, Pa., assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., :1 corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 29, 1947, Serial No. 764,437

' 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to web handling devices and more particularly to mechanism for forming a strip of cloth, paper, or other material into a series of loops or festoons over relatively spaced girts of a supporting conveyor arranged to transport the web through a drying or other processing apparatus.

Prior to the present invention the formation of a web of material into uniform loops or festoons over the girts of a conveyor has been a continuous problem to builders and users of loop driers and other processing apparatus. In some cases, in order to form the loops or festoons of the web over the girts with substantial speed, air under pressure is employed to assist in feeding the web downwardly between adjacent girts, and in certain installations this air is discharged through a nozzle which oscillates back and forth in the general direction of travel of the girts so as to cause a quick wiping action of the air across the girt on which the loop is being formed and thereby obtain a more uniformly accurate length of loop between the girts. I

While the use of air under pressure affords valuable assistance in feeding the web downwardly between adjacent girts in the formation of loops or festoons, when the web is fed or run at high speeds, and particularly in connection with certain types of fabrics, the air has a tendency to cause the web to balloon rearwardly over the trailing girt and commence prematurely the formation of a succeeding loop or festoon thereover, thus forming loops or festoons ofthe web upon the girts which are irregular and unequal in length.

The proper festooning of webs, such as cloth,-

on the girts of loop driers or like apparatus is quite important to the satisfactory operation of such apparatus and with present trend toward apparatus of large capacity and high production rates, the formation of a loop or festoon out of turn or prematurely may cause a substantial jamb at the feed end of the apparatus thus causing a great deal of lost time, damaged web material and unsatisfactory operation of the apparatus in general.

With the foregoing in mind, a principal object of the present invention is to provide novel apparatus which is operable to form a web of material into a series of loops or festoons of uniform length in between each adjacent pair of supporting girts of a conveyor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel apparatus as set forth which is operable to form a web material into loops or festoons of uniform length over relatively spaced girts of a supporting conveyor at relatively high rates of speed.

Another object of the invention is toprovide apparatus as set forth which is operable to effect the formation of one loop or festoon only at a time and thereby prevent the ballooning or billowing of the web prematurely over onto a trailing or succeeding girt.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character set forth wherein air \under pressure is employed to assist in the formation of the loops or festoons and is deflected or directed in a manner to create a relatively lower pressure forwardly of the web which operates to draw the web forwardly away from a trailing girt with the result that the loop or festoon is firmed without the web fouling on such trailing Still a further object of the present invention is to provide apparatus embodying the foregoing characteristics and advantages which is of relatively simplified and inexpensive construction and is highly effective and efficient in operation and use.

These and other objects of the invention and the various features and details of the construction and operation thereof are hereinafter fully set forth and described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional elevation through the feed end of apparatus employing a festoon supporting conveyor of the girt type showing one embodiment of the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1. v Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the disclosure in Fig. 1 showing details of the construction and arrangement of one form of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a modified form of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the supporting conveyor for the web w comprises a pair of side chains I which are arranged to travel continuously upon supporting rails 2 carried by a framework 3 which may be the enclosing casing of a drying'or other web processing apparatus.

Extending between and supported at their opposite ends by the chains l, respectively, is a series of web supports 4 in the form of girts which may be rigidly attached to the chains l or supported thereby for rotation with respect thereto as desired.

The web 10 is formed into the loops or festoons a: successively by passing over a rotating drum 5 which feeds the web forwardly of a back plate 6 and downwardly between an adjacent pair of girts 4 while the upper run of the conveyor moves beneath the drum 5 at a relatively slower speed than the peripheral speed of said drum. Feed of the web w downwardly between adjacent girts 4 is expedited by means of air under pressure which is discharged from an air nozzle 1 and operates to force or push the web downwardly between adjacent girts and thereby effect rapid formation of the successive loops or festoons a". The discharge or outlet of the air nozzle 1 extends transversely of the conveyor substantially the entire length of the girts 4 and is of relatively narrow width in the direction of travel of said conveyor so that air is discharged from the nozzle 1 substantially in the form ofa thin sheet that extends entirely transversely of the conveyor.

The air nozzle 1 is pivotally mounted as indicated at 8 to swing, or oscillate, substantially between the limit positions shown in solid and dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawing, in the general plane of movement of the conveyor. In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawing, swinging movement or oscillation of the air nozzle 1 is effected byproviding at opposite ends of the air nozzle suitable brackets or the like 9 having depending fingers H) which are constructed and arranged so that in the solid line position thereof they are engaged by the rollers of the chains I and carried forward thereby along with the air nozzle 1 to substantially the dotted line position shown at which point the fingers I 0 ride over the advancing chain rollers and swing rearwardly into engagement with the chain rollers aligned with the next succeeding or oncoming girt 4.

By carrying the air nozzle 1 forwardly with each girt as-the latter traverses the initial position of its upper course during the formation of the loop or festoon w, it will be seen that the relative position of the air discharge with respect to the particular girt 4 on which the loop or festoon isbeing formed, is maintained substantially constant during traverse of the conveyor during each loop-forming period.

As previously stated, one of the difficulties encountered in connection with air loop-forming devices is the tendency for the air to cause the downwardly feeding web 10 to balloon or billow rearwardly over the trailing girt. 4 prematurely so that a succeeding loop or festoon is started to be formed before formation of the loop or festoon on a preceding girt has been completed thereby producing a series of'loops or festoons of the web Which are of different lengths and completely lacking in uniformity.

In accordance with the present invention, it has been determined that if the air discharged under pressure from the nozzle 1 is caused to be deflected or directed forwardly and away from the downwardly feeding web to, a slight pressure differential is created .at opposite sides of the web w with a relatively lower pressure at the forward side of the web which operates to draw the downwardly feeding web w away from the trailing girt 4 so that it passes between an adjacent pair of girts without becoming fouled on thetrailing girt.

Such deflection or direction of the air discharged from the nozzle in a direction forwardly or 'away from the downwardly feeding Web 10 may be accomplished, for example, by securing to the forward lower edge of the air nozzle 1 a transversely extending plate or member II. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing this member II 'has a convex rearward face over which the air discharged from the nozzle 1 is caused to flow in a generally arcuate path conforming to the curvature of the rearward face of the plate or member II and, as the free edge portion of said member is'directed forwardly and away from the web' to, it will be apparent that the air discharged from the nozzle 1 likewise is directed forwardly and away from the web thus drawing the latter away from the trailing girt in the manner described.

On the other hand, the air deflector may take the form shown in Fig. 4 wherein a depending extension-or attachment, in the form of a plate or-member l2, having a concave forward sur-' face is secured to the rearward lower edge of the air nozzle 1 and arranged so that its free edge portion extends in a direction forwardly or away from the downwardly feeding web w. In this form of deflector the air discharging from the nozzle 1 flows over the concave forward Surface of the member l2 and is directed thereby in a generally forward direction away from the web 10 thereby creating at the forward side of the web 10 a relatively lower pressure than,

between to start the formation of a new loop.

This may be accomplished by pinching or gripping the web against the trailing girl; of the pair between which a loop or'festoon has been formed. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, a plurality of flexible straps or the like [3 may be arranged in relatively spaced relation transversely of the conveyor and suspended from a rod or the like H which is mounted adjacent the forward lower edge of the air nozzle by means of generally hook-shaped element l5 secured to and depending from the forward face of the air nozzle, for example, as shown in Fig. 3 of which a festoon or loop of the web is being formed.

The free ends of the flexible straps l3 areweighted in any suitable manner, for example, by slugs of metal or the like I 6 and are arranged to engage the portion of the web w passing over the drawing, This spaced relationship 'of the straps I3 is asaaoao the girt I in the relation shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. In this manner further feed of the web w over the girt l is arrested, whereupon the web normally will fall between the said girt 4 and the next succeeding girt to start a new the web w against the next succeeding girt and i thereby arrest travel of the web as the air nozzle 1 swings rearwardly from the dotted line position to the solid line position thereof shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing preparatory to forming the next loop or festoon.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the present invention provides novel apparatus which is operable to form loops or festoons of uniform size in the spaces between ad- Jacent pairs of supporting girts. Also, the invention provides apparatus which is operable to assure the formation of one loop or festoon only at a time and to prevent the ballooning or blowing of the web prematurely over onto a trailing girt and which is constructed and arranged so that air under pressure employed in the formation of the loops or festoons is deflected in a manner to create a relatively lower pressure forwardly of the web which operates to draw the web away from a trailing girt with the result that the loop or festoon is formed without the web fouling on such girt. In addition, the present invention provides apparatus embodying the foregoing characteristics and advantages which is of relatively simplified and inexpensive construction, and is highly effective in operation and use.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been herein illustrated and described, it is not intended that the invention be limited to such disclosure and changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for forming a web ofmaterial into a series of festoons over relatively spaced girts of a supporting conveyor, means above the for swinging movement in the plane of travel of the conveyor and arranged to' discharge air under pressure at the forward side only of said web and downwardly between said adjacently disposed pair of girts to assist in the formation of the festoon of the web, intercooperating means on said nozzle and conveyor operable to cause said nozzle to advance with said conveyor a limited portion of the travel thereof so that air discharged from the nozzle is directed properly between said pair of girts during formation of the festoon as the conveyor advances, deflector means associated with the discharge end of said nozzle comprising a member presenting a curved surface to the discharged air and having its free edge spaced from the advance girt and directed away from the trailing girt of said pair so that air discharged from the nozzle passes over the curved surface of the deflector means and beyond the free edge thereof and discharges through the space between said free edge and said advance girt forwardly and away from said trailing girt to draw the web forwardly away from said trailing girt to prevent fouling of the web thereon during formation of the festoon between said pair of girts, and means operable to hold the web on the advance girt of said pair during the formation of the festoon between said pair of girts.

2. In apparatus for forming a' web of material into a series 'of festoons over relatively spaced girts of a supporting conveyor, means above the conveyor for feeding the web between an adjacently disposed pair of said girts to form a festoon therebetween as the conveyor advances, a nozzle pivotally mounted forwardly adjacent said means for swinging movement in the plane of travel of the conveyor and arranged to discharge air under pressure at the forward side only of said web and downwardly between said adjacently disposed pair of girts to assist in the formationof the festoon of the web, intercooperating means on said nozzle and conveyor operable to cause said nozzle to advance with said conveyor 9. limited portion of the travel thereof so that air discharged from the nozzle is directed properly between said pair of girts during formation of the festoon as the conveyor advances, deflector means associated with the discharge end of said nozzle comprising a member presenting a curved surface, to the discharged air and having its free edge directed away from the trailing girt of said pair 50 that air discharged from the nozzle is directed forwardly and away from said trailing girt to draw the web forwardly away from said trailing girt to prevent fouling of the web thereon during formation of the festoon between said pair of girts, and means carried by said nozzle operable to engage and hold the web on the advance girt of said pair during formation of the festoon between said pair of girts, said means,

into a series of festoons over relatively spaced girts of a supporting conveyor, a drum above the conveyor for feeding the web between an adjacently disposed pair of said girts to form a festoon therebetween as the conveyor advances, a nozzle pivotally mounted forwardly adjacent the drum for swinging movement in the plane of travel of the conveyor and arranged to discharge air under pressure at the forward side only of said web and downwardly between said adjacently disposed pair of girts to assist in the formation of the festoon of the web, means carried by said nozzle and engageable by the conveyor operable to cause said nozzle to advance with said conveyor a limited portion of the travel thereof so that air discharged from the nozzle is directed properly between said pair of girts during formation of the festoon as the conveyor advances, deflector means associated with the discharge end of said nozzle comprising a curved surface having its free edge directed away from the trailing girt of said pair so that air. discharged from the nozzle is directed forwardly and away from said trailing girt to draw the web forwardly away from said trailing girt to prevent fouling of the web thereon during formation of the festoon between said pair of girts, and flexible means carried by said nozzle operable to engage and hold the-web on the advance girt of said pair during formation of the REFERENCES CITED festoon between said pair of girts comprising a. f n r of record m the plurality of flexible strap elements weighted at i t; ig g gt i t ere ces e their free ends and spaced apart transversely of the conveyor to provide openings therebetween 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS- through which air discharged from the nozzle Number Name Date and passing over the curved surface of the de- 1,287,172 Andrews Dec. 10, 1918 flector means and beyond the free edge thereof 2,213,502 Parkes Sept. 3, 1940 is vented forwardly over the said advance glrts. FOREIGN PATENTS FREDERICK E. HURX'I'HAL. m Number Country Date 363,816 Great Britain Dec. 31, 1931 420,373 Great Britain Nov. 27, 1934 

